Color of Life
by lonewolfe13
Summary: Mary Elizabeth Styx is not your average girl. Nor is she your average budding Huntress. Her story began with some time at the Mistral Combat School Sanctuary like her family before her, but the next chapter has come and she is preparing to attend Beacon Academy. In her experience, everyone is fighting a battle no one else sees. It will definitely help her when she has her team.


**AN: So I am conducting a little bit of an experiment. This is the third of three one-shots I am releasing together with a different plot to see which one gets the most interest. Whichever one receives the most views and favorites after an undetermined amount of time (basically whenever I decide I am bored of life to write something new) will be the main focus of my next big story. For those of you who came her from my other stories, 14 Hunters will still be updated regularly (whenever I finally get the chapter finished and published) and will most likely be mostly finished before I start on the next one.**

**This is number three of three one-shots that I have had going through my head and finally put down and on this site. The other two are named _And Unto Dust You Shall Return_ and _Cinder on the Meadow_. Each will have a completely independent plot, although I may have recurring characters between the three that are of my own creation. So if you would please check out the other two as well, I would love to hear/see which one intrigues people most.**

* * *

"Are you sure you want to head all the way to Beacon? I know you have a longing for that place but you might not be up for the trip and the loneliness." Professor Weiss stated to the young graduate standing at the window of his room. Looking back at his desk, the old man began clearing away the graded papers and sifting them into folders in a drawer of his file cabinets. "You need to watch out for yourself first and foremost. You want to go there because that's were your grandparents went, and that's where I first met them." Professor Weiss sat back down and leaned back in his chair smiling softly.

"I want to see what it's like." The young girl turned from the window to look back at her mentor. Mary Elizabeth leaned against the lab table and gazed around the room. Mary stood just over five feet tall with vibrant waving blue "hair" and dark blue-gray eyes. Her hair was infused with Dust and her Aura allowing it to take on a blue flame appearance that wove lazily until she swept it back along her skull. Her grey eyes finished their scan and fixed back on her Dust Applications teacher returning her gaze. "I know what you mean, but I want to experience everything they did. You know how close I was with my grandmother before she passed on, and I never did get to meet grandfather."

"I know you never got to meet Ben. He would have been proud to see how much you put into your work and your life." Weiss chuckled and beckoned the young girl over. "It is a shame he passed away when her did, he always was a great friend." Mary smiled and took a seat on the stool next to Weiss. Mary looked over at him before staring intently back at her feet.

"I think he would have been the coolest grandfather anyone could have gotten to know." Mary wiped away a small tear from the corner of her eye at the thought. "It is a shame that we live in a world where people have to die."

"That's nature. We were born from dust and unto dust we shall return. You have to keep your chin up. He may have been a great friend and father, but he sure was strict when it came to the classroom. You probably got off lucky with not having him." The professor chuckled again and got off his chair wandering to a lab table to clean up the stuff. While he cleaned the table, the door opened and three young men walked into the room, greeting Mary warmly.

"Hey sis! So this is where you have been hiding out all afternoon?" The eldest brother laughed as he walked to the desk and leaned against it watching Weiss clean the room. "Hey there old man. Good to see you again."

"Hey there Alan. Back in town from the Academy?" Weiss turned and carried a handful of delicate instruments back to a cabinet and replaced them in their proper places. "How are you Daniel and Kenneth?" The old man walked back to his desk, clapping the shoulder of Alan and shaking the other brothers hands.

"Doing pretty well, thanks for asking Alberto." Daniel laughed in response and took a seat in one of the student seats. His younger brother Kenneth took a seat next to him while Alan remained resting against the desk looking at his sister and his old professor. "Still kicking ass around here, huh? You said you would be out of here when I graduated a couple years back."

"The old man said the same thing when Alan graduated." The youngest brother Kenneth chipped in. "After complaining about the number of idiots you get coming through the system here, you still are sticking it out."

"Well I had to make sure the Styx family name wasn't ruined by you boys. Little Miss Mary here proved that your parents did something right. Although I still have you for another year Kenneth, don't change my mind." Professor Weiss clapped Mary lightly on the shoulder and shook her in her seat, prompting a smile from the young girl and mock grimaces from the brothers.

"Oh put a sock in it. I did just fine in class." Daniel retorted with a smirk.

"It wasn't the grades but your behaviors. You guys have always been acting out and getting into quite a bit of trouble." Weiss removed his hand from Mary's shoulder and pointed accusingly at the seated brothers. Alan and Mary smirked at the seated brothers as they exchanged looks of mixed indignation and humor.

"You got us there." Kenneth threw up his hands in defeat and stood up. "Anyway, we need to get home cause mom wants see Mary before she leaves for Vale." Kenneth stretched his scrawny limbs and walked to the door, leaning against the doorjamb waiting for the rest of his family.

"You leave for Vale tonight?!" Albert was surprised at the news. "I would have thought you finished out the summer here and then move straight into Beacon for the next semester."

"I would have but Kenneth has made it a point that he moved out my stuff so he could have my room when I graduated. Since he is still at home for the next year and Daniel is working at a local plant, mom and dad are letting him and Daniel stay but they want their own rooms." Mary let out an exasperated sigh and slid off her stool, shaking her head and rubbing her side absentmindedly.

"Well, it has been fun seeing you one last time before you're gone." The old man stood up and walked around his desk to hug Mary, who eagerly returned the gesture. "Here's my number if you ever want to just talk, and don't hesitate to come by if you are back in the area." Weiss let the young girl go and held out a small slip of paper with the old man's contact information. Mary accepted it and placed it safely in her bag before swinging it around her shoulder and giving the old man one last hug.

"I'll miss you. You were the best thing about this school." Mary wiped her tears from her eyes and walked over to her younger brother and shoved him out the door way. Alan and Weiss shook hands once more before the brothers followed the bickering two out of the classroom. Mary and Kenny both argued and fought on a regular basis so the older siblings hung back and chatted about their alma mater as they walked from the science wing out the front doors into the bright sun.

The children began making their way through the parking lot to the luxury car parked in the furthest spot with no other cars close by. Mary walked up to the sable Rolls-Rufous stretch owned by the eldest brother and opened the rear passenger door. Kenny got in behind the driver's seat and the two continued their arguments about Grimm and the rumors of a new lion species of Grimm. Denny and Al sighed heavily and got in the front seats and Al started the vehicle, assaulting the passengers with a storm of music from the cranked speakers. Turning the volume down, Al turned in his seat to address the youngest two.

"I am not going to drive you two home if you insist on arguing the entire way there. You two either agree to disagree, shut the hell up, or get out and walk. I know this is a special day for both of you so don't make me." Alan yelled at the back seat at the now silent kids.

"Come on big bro, don't be like that." Mary half whined at her eldest brother and current chauffeur. "I still need to get home and finish packing before the flight leaves." Mary pouted, rather poorly, to a stone faced sibling.

"Then you have a reason to shut up." Alan turned back around and began reversing out of the spot before switching gears and accelerating down the parking lot to the exit. "And don't provoke her Ken. I'll make sure mom beats you if you keep it up like this." Ken sighed heavily and sat back in his seat and the car roared onto the open road.

Alan had always been a fan of fast cars and driving fast. So once he was able to save the money, he began buying the fastest cars he could get his hands on. The only problem was, he only had one car at a time for a few months before he grew tired of it and traded it in for a different car. While the dealers were none too happy about his habits, he always paid full price and would help to fix the cars he outgrew in his time off. His current car was by far the most expensive he had obtained to date, which was mainly due to his spending money after his successful jobs completed while at the Huntsman Academy in Mistral where they lived, Castle. He had used the surplus money to help set his younger and only sister in the city of Vale for the summer before her next adventure began.

"Hey sis, have you been looking into possible summer jobs when you get there?" Alan glanced in his rearview mirror at his quiet sister who stared out her window at the slower cars they were passing. "Mary? You there?" This got the attention of the other two brothers who both looked at Mary who shook suddenly and looked around confused and surprised at the attention.

"Who? What? Sorry Alan did you say something?" Mary shook her head lightly clearing the lightheadedness that had developed and yawned. Looking again at the driver's seat, she saw that Alan still looked somewhat worried. "What Al? Just please repeat what you said."

"I said, have you looked into any summer jobs while we are in Vale before school starts and I have to return?" Alan glanced out his window before merging into the lane and preparing to get into the turn lane.

"Uhh, yeah. There is a small bookshop owned by a guy named Tukson that has a position for me that starts on Monday. There is another place that is a little dust shop and is has a selection of other stuff as well that I may apply at." Mary shifted in her seat with a sharp pain in her side returning. Hiding her grimace, she rubbed the spot as Alan pulled off the road and onto the drive for their house. The house was fairly small given there were four kids living in it at one point, but is was cozy and surrounded by plenty of trees the kids used to use for their games and weapons training. Alan pulled up onto the asphalt slab in front of the garage and the siblings all got out and began heading into the house.

"We're home mom!" Denny called as he opened the front door and the other filed in behind him. The door opened into a living room where they could see their father in his armchair watching the latest report on Grimm attacks on the outskirts of the eastern Mistralian city of Levante. Their father stood up as the kids began removing their shoes and dropping their bags.

"Hey there sweetie." Their father, Adonis, walked up to Mary and wrapped her in a tight hug. "How was the final day? Feels pretty weird knowing you are not going to be around there anymore isn't it?" He held the young girl at arms length and began looking her over before releasing her and hugging his sons. The mother came from the back room with a basket of Mary and Al's casual clothing which she dropped in front of the two before hugging her children.

"There's my little graduate. Make sure you finish packing because we have to be leaving soon so you and Al have to be on that airship." Aella, stood on her toes to place a kiss on the cheek of her eldest boy before stooping slightly to place a kiss on the forehead of her only daughter. "Now get your clothes and hurry up, I want to make sure we won't be late." She turned away and walked to the back rooms of the house as the two kids begrudgingly grabbed their respective piles and headed to their rooms.

Alan kicked his door open to find Ken and Denny rolling around on the floor in the middle of a fist fight. Muttering under his breath, he closed the door before stepping sideways to the edge of his bed where his last suitcase stood open and half full waiting to be finished. Sorting the pile into smaller piles consisting of his jeans, shirts, and others he placed the rest of his clothes in the case and prepared to zip it close. Before he could do so however, Denny used his size to his advantage and kicked Kenny off and into the side of Alan's bed making a loud thump as it hit the wall.

"Damn it! Will you two keep it civil until I am finished?!" Alan was about to jump into the fray when his mother's voice echoed through the walls.

"Alan you will provide a good example to your brothers! Mind yourself." Alan dropped his arms and mumbled under his breath. He turned back to his suitcase and finished closing it amid laughter from his younger brothers before they were cut off as well. "And you two will keep it down too. You had better not have broken anything." Alan smirked at the indignant looks on their faces before grabbing his bag and heaving it out of the room.

Mary had a much different room from her brothers. The biggest difference had to be that her bed was the only bed in the room. She did however, have an assortment of posters of popular bands and various maps pinned up around her room. She had always been fascinated by the history of not only her Kingdom but also of the other Kingdoms around Remnant. She sorted her own clothes into the appropriate piles and zipped her bag closed. Dragging the bag off her bed and out the door to the hallway proved to be a great labor which left her breathing heavily. Even without the bag containing everything she could live without, she had pulled off quite a few of her books and put those into the bag in lieu of her weapon and her battle garments. After returning to the room and grabbing the duffle bag that contained her Huntress attire and personal weapon and swinging the shoulder strap over her head, she closed her bedroom door and attempted to drag the massive bag back out to the front door. However, her father's hand was currently gripping the handle and his other arm held out to her which she seized happily.

"How many of your books are currently on your shelf Mary?" Mary hung her head sheepishly as her father laughed. Her father was not a small man by any means. He stood a couple feet taller than she did, and looked like he was built to last with his barrel chest and large muscular arms and legs. "Don't worry sweetheart, the bag is no problem." The two reached the front door where Alan stood with his bag as Aella bustled around grabbing her purse and the keys to the family wagon. Kenny and Denny stood next to each other elbowing each other in the side.

"Alright boys, take it easy." Their mother had returned with her purse under her arm and an extra set of keys in her hand. "Everyone outside! Let's go!" Alan opened the door and carried his bag out to his car where he opened the trunk and placed the bag inside, before getting in the driver's seat of his car. Adonis deposited his daughter's bag next to other suitcase and Mary placed her duffle bag on top before closing the trunk of the car. Aella walked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door to ride shotgun. The other brothers opened the doors and sat in the seats immediately behind the front row, while Mary sat in her usual seat and her father sat next to her watching his two younger sons.

"Take it easy on your mother Al. you know she doesn't like your usual habits." Adonis leaned back in his seat and pulled out his scroll to read new stories he was unable to watch on the news.

"Will do pops!" Al called from the front seat as he threw the car into reverse and floored the accelerator. While his mother gripped her door handle in fear, Al turned the wheel suddenly and swung the car around before throwing the vehicle in drive and using all momentum to fly down the driveway, executing a textbook J-turn. The roar of laughter from the backseat caused a large grim to spread across his face while his mother started berating him about dangerous driving and endangering the lives of the entire family.

Mary tuned this out as she plugged her headphones into her music player and began playing some old tunes while she stared back out the window. To be perfectly honest, she was scared about leaving home. To make it worse, she was leaving everything she knew and almost everyone she knew to go somewhere she had only been told about or had seen on the television. On the other hand, she was excited. She was able to experience something completely new, an entire new society, well it had its similarities but it was not the exact same. She was also going to the most prestigious Academies in all of Remnant, and she would hopefully be able to meet the man her grandmother had told her so much about, Ozpin of Beacon Academy. The man was a living legend, one of the greatest Huntsman to ever enter the eternal struggle against the Grimm, not to mention the mentor of Mary's grandmother, grandfather, and surrogate grandfather Albert Weiss.

"Alright kiddies, we are here." Aella called from the front seat, her smooth voice cutting across the song Mary was listening to. As she slipped her headphones off her head and her music player back into her pocket, she followed her brother Daniel from the car onto the airship landing pad. Behind her, the rest of her family stepped from the vehicle and gathered around Alan outside the driver's door. "Now Alan, I want you to make sure your little sister is safe. She is your first priority this summer, but you make sure to have fun as well."

"Don't worry mother, Mary Elizabeth is safe with me and Cyrille will be meeting us there. He's got the apartment all set up for us." Alan hugged his mother and began shaking hands with his father and brothers.

"Good, I am glad you found such a nice boy to spend your life with." Aella smiled and approached her daughter. "Please be careful. You know where to go if you have troubles and you will always be welcome back here if you have problems they can't fix." She smiled sadly at her daughter and began brushing away tears. "Oh hell with it, I'm going to miss my little girl." Aella pulled Mary close and hugged her tightly which Mary returned gladly.

"Well, have a fun time sweetheart." Mary's father proclaimed as the two women released each other, his voice cracking slightly with his evident sadness at seeing Mary leave them. "Like your mother said, you know who to contact. Make sure you make it to your appointments, we don't want a repeat of five years ago now do we?" Adonis's eyes swam as tears filled them before he wrapped his daughter in a tight hug as well.

"Did you really have to bring that up honey?" Aella scowled at Adonis as the brother's shifted their weights uneasily. Adonis released his little girl and bowed his head, upset with himself for bringing up painful memories.

"Don't worry daddy. I will be just fine." Mary put on a smile as she looked up at her father. She quickly walked over to her other brothers and pulled both of them into a tight hug. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to miss you buttheads." The two smirked and returned her hug. Before they could release however, the rest of the family wrapped their arms about the three and had one final group hug.

"Heads up folks. The ship is coming in." An air controller walked briskly to the family and pointed to the small interkingdom airship hovering over the landing pad a couple dozen yards from their spot. "We do have a car waiting for you to take you home after the airship leaves." The man bowed his head and retreated as the airship touched down.

"Alright. Time to head out sis." Al opened the driver door to his car and kissed his mother's cheek one last time before getting in. Mary nodded and opened the rear door and got into the car. Opening the windows, the two waved out the window as Alan drove the car up the cargo bay ramp into the waiting airship. As the two got out, the ramp began to retract and the ship began to rise slowly from the ground. The siblings held up their hands and waved until the bay doors closed and sealed. The two began to make their way up the stairs to the passenger section of the ship and lingered at a window watching the family retreat quickly into the distance as the airship turned due west and began it's flight to Vale into the sunset.

The two made their way to their cabin and found two first class chairs with pull out bed capabilities and the two took their seats. Mary swung the chair and stared out the window at the darkening sky.

"The pain is coming back isn't it?" Al's calm voice split the silent tension that had been gathering in the cabin causing Mary to turn around in surprise. "Don't pull that with me, I've been watching you ever since we were back in Weiss. You keep rubbing your side when you think no one's looking." Mary's head dropped and she stared silently at the floor before choosing to address the problem.

"Don't tell mom or dad. I didn't want to worry them more than they already are." Mary wiped away a tear and turned back to the window. However, Al grabbed her chair and swung it towards himself, pulling her from it and into his arms.

"Don't worry little sis. But we will be seeing a doctor as soon as we get to Vale." Mary gratefully wrapped her arms about her big brother, feeling truly content for the firs time since they had left her school. "Just make sure you keep fighting this. If you want to be a Huntress, you have your work cut out for you."

"I know. But there are still things I want to experience." Mary pulled out of her brother's grasp and looked out the window. "And their are still answers that I need. There are probably even questions I haven't asked that I need answered. I will learn that before anything happens to me."

"There she is. That's the little sister I remember." Alan smiled sadly and sat back in his chair, propping his feet against the window sill. Mary nodded and copied her brother, allowing her fatigue to overtake her as the ground below her became enveloped in darkness.

* * *

**AN: Hey! You made it to the end! *clap* That was me high-fiving myself.**

**This is my first attempt at putting an original team in Beacon and giving them their own adventures. However, not everything will be as prim and proper as a lot of the characters from the show. I also am giving sole focus of this teaser to one specific character who will be on the team. Some hints, the entire team is representative of a figure of either life or death according to various religions or beliefs throughout history. Props to those who have figured out who Mary Elizabeth is based off of. This may also go through a name change by the time I release it as this was kind of a late night idea that it seems pretty corny (kinda like ethanol...ba dum tiss..._I'm sorry_). As I did say, the characters will have secrets and other painful experiences that will become much more evident as the story continues. This also does not occur in the same year that RWBY is set, as I wanted to give the characters friends in Team CFVY, whom I believe to be third years (my opinion). The characters appearing in this chapter are all based off real people I have either known or heard stories of. This will be a much more serious story so fair warning there as well.**

**So yeah! As I said in the beginning, this is a little social experiment/some way to sort out which of my ideas are most interesting and popular. If you want to see this before either of my others (which you will find either on my page or by searching the names from the beginning of the story) hit favorite (follow is you wish as well), leave a review or hit me with a PM. There are no real weightings on one versus another but I will be counting how many different people show interest. Thanks again for reading!**


End file.
